


Home For Christmas

by My_Heart_Is_Not_Cold



Series: Unscripted Love [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: 'stage kissing', Actors AU, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Flirting, Gay Mess Lena Luthor, Human Kara Danvers, One-Sided Attraction, Or Is It?, Slow Burn, Unrequited Crush, but like with tongue, christmas fluff... in april, considerably less awkward kara danvers, the christmas movie au no one asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 13:36:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17162933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Heart_Is_Not_Cold/pseuds/My_Heart_Is_Not_Cold
Summary: On their second time working together, veteran actress Lena Luthor has to deal with the extremely silly and unprofessional crush on her up-and-coming Co-Star, the ever charming Kara Danvers, as they play the romantic leads of a Christmas movie.





	Home For Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first days of filming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really wanted to post this on Christmas as a one-shot but then I got stuck so I'm posting it as a two-shot.  
> I was going to post it earlier, but Christmas was a busy day.

 

Lena had to admit, never in her life, or in her career for that matter, had she ever imagined she’d be doing a Christmas movie.

Yet there she was, in the middle of April, walking into a scenographic street fully decorated for Christmas. Now that was something.

There were a few reasons as to why she said yes when her agent told her about it. Her first reason was that she really liked working and her show was on break, so she needed something to do, and she had no intention of spending her entire break traveling alone again.

The second reason was Ruby, Sam’s daughter was just the age to start enjoying things, and the little girl was obsessed with Christmas, so she thought it’d be nice to do a movie that Ruby would like… That was, until she read the script. It turned out to not be quite a children friendly movie, or as child-friendly as Love Actually was, but that brought her to her third reason: Lena actually enjoyed the screenplay.

It was a movie about people who couldn’t go home to spend Christmas with their families and had to make do with what they had. Much like Love Actually, it had several different storylines following different people in the same city in three weeks leading to Christmas. Lena like the stories, they felt real, they were stories about regular people, stories she could relate to, and she knew many people could too. She was drawn to it.

The fourth and last reason, was that Lena just liked having her ego stroked, much like any other actor in the business. The director had asked for her directly, no assistant, no casting team, but the director himself had called Lena’s agent and asked her to play the character of Niamh, an Irish woman who moved to Metropolis for work and couldn’t fly back home for the holidays and ended up spending it with a coworker whom she was attracted to. Lena could practically feel her head growing bigger when she heard it from her agent.

Lena grimaced at the cobblestone, she hoped she wouldn’t have to walk down that street in heels, but something told her she probably would.

“Ms. Luthor!” came a squeaky, near breathless voice from somewhere down the street.

Lena smirked, she was getting quite used to that reaction from people, she raised her sunglasses to see a young woman scrambling towards her.

“I’m Courtney Whitmore, Pat’s assistant. It’s so good to have you here with us,” the girl said when she reached Lena, holding out a hand to Lena gingerly, as if afraid to offend Lena.

Lena gave the girl her best charming smile as she took her hand and shook it. “Pleasure is all mine. Though I have to apologize for the delay.”

“Don’t worry, we have a big cast to film, it’s not a problem that you couldn’t be here sooner.”

“I’m glad, I’d hate to stall production.”

“It’s really fine, just three weeks, no harm done,” Courtney assured with a smile. “I Just have to take you to wardrobe now, we really need to get you fitted for costumes.”

“Well, lead the way.”

Lena followed the girl down the meticulously decorated set, Christmas lights crossed the narrow streets from above, wrapped around bright green garlands, and littered the walls of the short buildings like vines, with garlands with bows and decorations outlining the floor windows.

Halfway through, Courtney looked at Lena over her shoulder. “I’m a big fan, you know, Ms. Luthor, Princess Olith is one of my favorite characters on TV.”

Lena smiled brightly at Courtney. “She’s definitely my favorite character on TV.”

Courtney laughed.

A few minutes of walking and Courtney opened the door to what looked like a tailor shop and gestured for Lena to go in.

It was rather clever to have wardrobe in plain sight, disguised as a clothing shop, where it would probably be filmed as just another part of the street.

“Just talk to Martha,” Courtney told Lena, gesturing to a woman in the back who was working on a beautiful dress in a limbless mannequin. “She’ll take care of you.”

“Thank you, Courtney.”

“It was no problem, Ms. Luthor.”

“Oh, please call me Lena.”

The girl smiled at Lena as she left the store.

“Martha?” Lena asked approaching the older woman. “I’m Lena Luthor.”

“Oh, yes, yes, dear, we have so much work to do.”

\-------

 

After over an hour of trying out outfits and posing for pictures, Lena left the wardrobe department back in her own clothes and set off to find the director. She needed to discuss the schedule with him, see how she’d fit in on the already set schedule and make up for the three weeks she missed.

Pat Dugan was a big name in romantic films, he had directed some of the most famous romantic films in the past two decades and everyone who worked with him had only good things to say about him, Lena had never heard a single bad gossip about the man, which was more than she could say about most directors she worked with.

Pat seemed delighted to see Lena when she walked in, and immediately started telling her about how much he had liked her acting in previous projects he’d seen and why he thought she was perfect for the part.

“The moment I read the script I knew I wanted you for Niamh, there was no one else in my mind,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do if you refused.” He laughed.

“It’s a good thing the script is so good then,” Lena pointed out with a laugh of her own.

“I just gotta ask you if you’re okay with shooting with less rehearsal time.”

“Yeah, it’s fine, just a quick run through on set,” Lena assured. “I don’t want you to have to reschedule the entire month for me.”

“If it would be better for you, we could.”

Lena shrugged. “No, I’m good. You just do your thing and I’ll go with it.” She laughed. “I’ve been getting familiarized with my lines, it’s good that the scenes aren’t too long, makes it easier.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hundred percent, yeah.”

“Great, because we shoot your first scene as soon as it gets dark,” Pat informed.

Lena blinked a few times and cocked her head to the side. “I feel like you were testing me.”

“And you passed. Congratulations! Now let’s go meet your love interest.” Pat looked way too excited about the situation and it raised Lena’s suspiciousness. They made a little bit of small talk as he led her through the set but she wasn’t really focused on it.

Lena didn’t know who any of her costars were, hadn’t met anyone yet nor checked to see who she'd be working with, which admittedly wasn’t the best way to go about a job, but that was that.

So as she followed Pat, she almost felt like she was being led to a blind date, waiting to see who she was going to spend the next few hours with.

When they reached the 3rd street, how Pat had called the spot they were going to film the scene, Lena spotted her costar a few feet away with her back to them, chatting with Courtney with a script rolled up in her hand.

The tall brown-haired woman was talking animatedly gesturing a lot with her hands, and even if Lena couldn’t really hear her voice with all the other noises of the set, she could practically feel the cheerful energy exuding from her.

And then, when she was a few steps away, the woman laughed, and Lena froze.

She knew that laugh. She had dreamed with that laugh many times. That full body laugh was the most beautiful thing Lena had ever seen or heard; it sent a warm feeling deep in her stomach at the same time that it sent a shock down her spine.

Courtney said something to the woman which prompted her to turn around.

As soon as their eyes met Lena was struck, and then a smile, and her breath was stolen from her lungs.

“Lena!” was exclaimed with equal parts excitement and surprise. “It’s so good to see you again.”

Lena managed a smile once she managed to kickstart her brain again. “Kara, hey. Yeah, it’s, it’s good to see you,” she said lamely.

“I’m really glad you’re my date,” Kara joked with a charming smile that made Lena’s knees go weak. Kara was somehow even more beautiful than she remembered, and it was hard to tell if it was just that her memory didn’t really live up to the real thing, couldn’t quite recreate the energy and brightness that made Kara unique, or if Kara had truly managed to become more beautiful since they met. Either way, Lena was having a hard time breathing, especially with her heart beating so hard between her lungs.

Kara’s joke was cute, something Lena herself would have probably made had her brain not turned into mush at the sight of the woman. She needed to regain some control of herself and not let it show how much of a destabilized mess she really was.

“I mean, this is our second date already,” Lena pointed out, managing a smile of her own. “In lesbian culture, we’re a date away from moving in together.”

Again that beautiful full body laugh made an appearance, and Lena’s heart soared, a sense of accomplishment blooming in her chest.

“If you tell me you can cook, I’ll put your name on my lease right now.”

”I can use a phone to order take out.”

“Good enough.”

Kara was grinning widely at her and Lena didn’t really know what to do with herself, lucky for her, Pat chose that moment to make himself known again.

“Girls! Shall we get started?”

This brought Lena out of her school girl with a crush mindset and into a more professional one.

And so started the process Lena liked so much about filmmaking: setting up the scene.

While Kara and Lena ran their lines, the crew set up the camera under Pat’s orders, both actresses having to move at Pat’s will so he could see what angles would work better, where to put their marks, the pace at which they should walk. Of course, they’d need to wait until it got dark to see how the lighting would work, but everything else would be ready by then.

Whenever Pat didn’t need them, Kara used the free time to run to the crafts table and get herself a snack. Though Lena wasn’t sure if she could really call four donuts, three sandwiches and a pudding ‘a snack’, but she found it endearing either way.

“I don’t understand how you can have a body like that and eat like you do,” Lena mentioned as Kara shoved the remains of her second sandwich, aka at least a third of it, in her mouth; she had to concentrate not to smile at the chipmunk cheeks it created.

 “Fast metabolism,” Kara said once she finally managed to swallow all the food. “Also, can I tell you a secret?”

Lena raised an eyebrow at her but nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

“I got cast in this action movie and they gave me nine months to bulk up, so I need to eat a lot more than I’m used to, you know, to gain mass.”

“I’m not sure donuts is the right way to achieve that,” Lena pointed out.

Kara grinned. “They’re my only last indulgence, really, told my trainer that I couldn’t give them up.”

Lena gave a small laugh. “But why is that a secret?” she asked. “You’re doing an action movie and need to bulk up, where’s the secrecy?”

Kara opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out and she ended up gaping at Lena.

“Unless you’re playing a superhero,” Lena guessed.

“Uuuuhmmmmm…” Kara’s eyes were wide, face the picture of a kid getting caught for doing something they weren’t supposed to. “Aaaaaaaaaah-I didn’t say that.”

“Oh my god, you’re playing a superhero,” Lena hissed.

“No, I’m not,” Kara denied quickly. “No, nope, I didn’t tell you that.”

“You so are,” Lena insisted. “Who is it? Is it Black Canary? Huntress? Invisible Woman? Captain Marvel? That would be so funny with your name and all. No? Starfire? Supergirl? Elektra? Batgirl? BatWOMAN?”

“No, although I _am_ Jewish,” Kara said with a shrug. “You’re really well versed in your comic books.”

Lena smirked, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

“It’s not a comic book movie,” Kara told Lena then, with the confidence of someone who was sure she wouldn’t be discovered.

Lena gasped loudly, so loud some of the crew a few feet away looked over at them. “SHE-RA!” She exclaimed louder than she should. “You’re pla-”

Lena didn’t get to finish her sentence, Kara had all but flown to her and covered her mouth with a hand.

“You can’t tell anyone,” Kara said seriously, looking straight into Lena’s eyes, her blue eyes pleaded with her, and Lena couldn’t do anything more than nod. “Promise you won’t tell,” Kara insisted.

But of course Lena couldn’t say anything, not with Kara’s hand clamping over her mouth, and Kara’s stubborn face told her she didn’t plan on letting go until Lena promised it, so Lena did the only thing she could think of to get Kara to take her hand off.

Lena stuck her tongue out and slid it against Kara’s palm.

Kara let go of her instantly, yanking her hand away, as if she’d been shocked. “Gross!” she screeched, wiping her hand on her jeans. “What the heck?”

Lena shrugged. “Well, how could I promise you I won’t tell anyone if you were covering my mouth?”

Kara almost looked like she was blushing as she looked at Lena. “I guess you got a point.”

“I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thank you,” Kara said with a small smile.

“You are absolute crap at keeping a secret though.”

This time Kara did blush. “I’ve been told that, yeah.”

Lena could only laugh at the woman.

“In my defense, you’re like the first person to find out, so I’ve been doing a great job at keeping it a secret and I’d appreciate if you did the same.”

Lena raised an eyebrow at Kara, disbelievingly. “First person? Unless you never talk to anyone ever, I doubt that.”

Kara ducked her head down and scratched the back of her head as her cheeks burned again.

“Actually, I got the news like four weeks ago while I was at the beach before I came here to shoot, and I haven’t seen my sister in a few months and she’s the only one to whom I literally cannot lie, so yeah,” Kara explained.

Lena felt like there was something Kara wasn’t saying, especially with the way Kara’s ears were bright red and she was avoiding eye contact very hard, which was uncharacteristic of her, and that didn’t sound all that believable, there were three entire weeks of shooting where Kara could have let it slip, but she took pity on the younger woman and let it go.

“You just wanted to show off for me, then,” Lena teased with a smile that she hoped would ease Kara’s nerves a little.

It did.

Kara let out a laugh, her entire body relaxing, though her cheeks and ears were still pink. “Yeah, that’s it. It’s our second date, you know, gotta play all my cards.”

“Cute.”

They were called back to their marks not long after.

As the afternoon wore off, with twilight approaching, the sky darkened enough that they could turn on the lights, and so they turned the evening into day again, the many bright lights illuminating the entire street and onwards.

 Lena was suddenly very aware of Kara’s proximity as she leaned over, a hand on Lena’s shoulder, her mouth nearing Lena’s ear, breath ghosting over Lena’s neck making the hairs on her neck and on her arms all stand.

“I know people like to start decorating early, but this is ridiculous,” Kara whispered to her.

Lena hadn’t even fully processed the entire situation with the mush that she now called brain when the laugh bubbled out of her. She laughed loud and hard, louder and harder than really was necessary, and she had to clamp a hand over her own mouth to stop herself, blushing as she looked over at Kara. But Kara’s reaction was very encouraging, she had a satisfied grin on her face, like she had achieved her goal, looking rather proud of herself for doing so.

Kara held Lena’s eyes as she stepped closer again, her hand going up, almost as if she wanted to touch Lena’s face but then she let it drop again. She was inches away from Lena’s face then, her bright blue eyes shining with the reflection of the Christmas lights, and Lena couldn’t think properly.

“You have a beautiful laugh.”

It was only when a faint little gasp made her a tad dizzy that Lena realized she hadn’t been breathing for the past few moments.

 “I… thank you,” Lena breathed out, and Kara smiled at her.

Their moment was interrupted but Courtney coming over to them to explain they needed to go get ready to shoot.

“So what have you been up to this past year and a half?” Lena asked casually as they walked to wardrobe together.

“Quite a lot, actually,” Kara said with a laugh, scratching the back of her neck. “I mean, compared to what I was used to. I’ve done a few episodes of different shows, I did Law & Order, I did a four-episode arc on Elementary, two on The Good Wife, one in Blue Bloods,” she listed.

“So New York.”

Kara laughed. “Basically, yeah. I also did voice for a cartoon, that was fun. And a Nicholas Sparks movie.”

“A Nicholas Sparks movie?” Lena asked amused.

Kara shrugged. “Yeah, but I was only like, the best friend that made the main couple meet.”

“Totally below your talents,” Lena said, and Kara blushed.

“I also just wrapped Step Up 6,” Kara added.

Lena frowned. “There are six Step Up’s?”

“There are now,” Kara laughed.

“So dance movie but still no Broadway?”

Kara twisted her lips in a pout. “I’ll get there.”

Lena smiled at her. “That’s the right attitude.”

Kara smiled as well. “I guess.”

\-------

 

Hair makeup and costume ready, Lena made her way back to the 3rd street. Her tape color was green, and she walked to the little green x on the sidewalk mindful of the high heels. She knew she would have to wear them, she always did end up getting the highest most uncomfortable pair of heels wardrobe could get their hands on, and she knew it wasn’t because of her height, she wasn’t that short.

“You okay there?”

Kara was suddenly standing right next to Lena when she hadn’t been 2 seconds before.

“Fine, just… heels and cobblestone aren’t exactly a match.”

Kara frowned as she looked at Lena’s feet. “I’m sorry.”

Lena shrugged at that. “Nah, don’t worry. It’s part of the job.”

“Well, still. I usually get to wear flats because of my height, so I’m sorry they feel the need to put you in heels like those, you’re not that short.”

“I think it’s more about aesthetic than anything.”

“Kind of dumb, if you ask me, your feet aren’t even on screen.”

“Yeah, but my height is,” Lena pointed out.

“I happen to like your height without the heels,” Kara said, and for some reason, the way her voice lowered on that sentence sent Lena’s heart into a sprint.

Lena gulped before looking at Kara with a completely unphased expression. “You just like being taller,” she accused.

Kara pursed her lips and nodded. “Yeah, I like my women shorter. What can I say?” She shrugged, with both her shoulders and her face, somehow.

Lena blushed, ducking her head to try and hide it, as she laughed, her heart ready to run a marathon on its own. She pushed Kara lightly on the shoulder and the younger woman laughed.

 

Lena’s fears were proven right on their tenth run through of the scene.

The scene was rather simple, just walk down the street together, with almost no lines, just an explanation of why Lena’s character, Niamh, could not go home for Christmas, and some liberty to adlib a casual conversation.

They did the whole thing once for practice, the director gave them a few pointers and they repeated it, but Kara messed up her line and they had to start over, since it was a longshot with no cuts. They did it again, and Kara messed up again on the same line, she yelled an apology and they repeated.

Again and again, Kara messed up the same line, until on the ninth attempt, she got it right, only to immediately celebrate and mess up the shot.

But they were having a good laugh, it was all in good fun.

So they did it a tenth time, and Kara got it right and didn’t immediately ruin it with a celebration. Everything was going perfectly, until Lena stepped wrong, her heel slipped into one of the cracks between stones and she was all but propelled to the ground. Before the impact came, however, she felt a pair of arms around her waist, and she looked up surprised at Kara, her ears ringing loudly with the fear that ran through her entire body.

“Careful,” Kara said in a calming tone.

“T-thank you,” Lena stuttered, still looking startled at Kara, their eyes never breaking contact.

Kara grinned at her. “Anytime.”

Kara helped her steady herself back on her feet and led her hand to the crook of a mildly muscular arm, holding it in place with a hand. But when Kara urged her to continue walking, Lena frowned, looking at Kara in confusion.

“Where are you going?”

“To get you home, Niamh,” Kara said with a laugh, and Lena realized the director hadn’t cut yet, they were still rolling.

“Right, yeah. Sorry. That just took the wind out of me for a second.”

Kara laughed. “I noticed.” Then she looked at Lena more seriously than before. “Is your foot okay?”

Lena nodded. “Yeah, it’s fine. Just slipped.”

“It’s all this snow,” Kara said and Lena wanted to laugh, they were practically melting inside their coats. “Makes the stones all the more slippery.”

“Yeah, although I don’t think my shoes helped much.”

Kara threw a pointed look at the shoes in question. “Why do you keep torturing yourself?”

“Fashion,” Lena said simply. “And so you don’t get much taller than me, can’t give you that satisfaction.”

Kara laughed beautifully, and Lena watched her face with a smile.

A few seconds passed before Pat yelled: “CUT!”

They both stopped their walk and turned to the direction of the voice, where Pat was walking towards them.

“You sure you’re fine?” Kara asked concerned.

“Yeah, foot just twisted a little, but nothing I can’t handle,” Lena assured.”

“That was great girls,” Pat told them. “I loved it. Great job at staying in character even after that. Lena, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“I think we should wrap up here so you can go rest,” Pat said then. “We got all we need for the scene.”

Kara insisted on walking Lena to wardrobe, keeping Lena’s hand firmly in place on her arm and encouraging the woman to hold on to her; she made sure to walk Lena to her car, as well, ranting off instructions of how to take care of a sprained foot before the driver took off. The whole thing only made Lena’s heart soar, and she spent the entire night in her room thinking about Kara’s worried blue eyes as she held her safe from a concussion.

 

* * *

 

 

 

“So how’s your foot?” Kara asked as soon as Lena stepped into the set.

“I’m fine, Kara,” Lena insisted. “I didn’t get hurt.” She looked deep into Kara’s eyes so Kara knew she was telling the truth. “Thanks to you,” she added, and then raised her eyebrows, a smirk playing on her lips. “Your movie didn’t even start and already you’re playing the hero.”

Kara blushed, and Lena felt a now familiar satisfaction bubble in her chest.

Lena’s scenes that day were all inside. They were shooting in their place of work, hers and Kara’s character, Rose, and there were a lot more people to act with. It almost felt weird, Lena wasn’t used to sharing Kara in a scene… sharing a scene with Kara and someone else. All scenes she’d done with Kara the first time they worked together were just the two of them, so now she’d have to focus on someone else while Kara was also in her close proximity and she didn’t know if she could handle.

Turned out, it really was hard to concentrate with Kara watching her and not acting with her; every time she caught Kara’s eyes in a scene where Kara wasn’t, she’d get distracted and forget her next line. Kara was entirely too distracting, but it all worked in their favor.

Kara’s character was a hit around the office, many men and women alike were attracted to her, but she didn’t have eyes for any of them. There were even rumors going around as to why she never looked at anyone. Lena’s character was the new hire straight from Ireland and Kara’s character was the first person she met in the office, they quite literally ran into each other, papers were spilled to the floor, hands touched while picking them up, and then eyes met and the romance was ignited. A lot of the scenes were just Kara and Lena smiling at each other around the office, so when Lena got distracted by looking at Kara and forgot what she was supposed to say, and managed to recover right after, it actually passed as an acting choice, and Pat was loving it.

“I knew there was a reason why I chose you,” he told her excitedly after a scene where she stuttered her line and couldn’t remember to look at the person she was acting with. “That’s great! Keep doing what you’re doing.”

 _What I’m doing_ , Lena thought, _is having a silly and super cliché crush on my co-star, and it’s quite honestly unprofessional._

Their characters were reporters, and Lena was enjoying her own wardrobe of a professional respectable woman, with her pencil skirts and blouses and pantsuits, because she thought she looked really good in them, though the heels weren’t her favorite, but Kara’s wardrobe was on a whole nother level. They had Kara in slacks and button-down shirts and suit jackets and ties and even vests sometimes, and it was absolutely delicious, she was even wearing suspenders for one scene and that was the reason why Lena stuttered in the deliverance of her line.

There were not many colors in Kara’s wardrobe either, mostly somber with tones of grey or dark blue, paired with white, or black, the most adventurous was that one brighter blue tie that really matched Kara’s eyes. It was all culminating to the climax of their storyline where Rose would show up to the Christmas party wearing a gorgeous blue dress and everyone would have their jaws on the floor, with Niamh telling her she expected a suit and Rose saying she wanted to impress, to which Niamh would reply that she didn’t need help in that department. It was also going to contrast with the girliness of Rose’s apartment and her very soft and colorful way to dress outside of work.

“I don’t think I’ve ever worn a tie,” Kara mentioned to Lena before the first scene, as she tried to tie her own tie. “How do I do this?” she asked, mostly to herself.

Lena smiled at her softly. “Come here,” she said, and took both sides of the tie in her hands, gently sliding the tie to the right length and expertly looping it into a neat half Windsor.

“You make that look so easy,” Kara said with a little embarrassed laugh.

Lena again smiled at her. “It’s not as hard as people make it seem, you just have to know what you’re doing,” Lena told her as she slid the knot up.

“I mean, that’s the whole problem,” Kara laughed. “I have no idea what I’m doing. You on the other hand, always seem to know what to do.”

Kara took a sharp intake of breath when Lena’s fingers grazed her shirt covered throat, as the brunette fixed the knot at Kara’s collar.

The gesture seemed so intimate all of a sudden, Lena just realizing how close they were to each other, practically sharing the same breath, and the way Kara was looking at her made her mouth dry. The intensity of Kara’s gaze was almost too much, and yet Lena couldn’t look away, her eyes were locked, and she felt frozen to the spot, not able to even blink, and as far as she could tell, Kara was the same.

A loud noise on the set broke their moment, and Lena had to fight against literally shaking her head out of the daze. She cleared her throat though.

“There you go.”

Kara nodded, and Lena could swear she saw the woman gulp. “Th-thank you.”

Lena grinned, but not feeling any confidence behind it as she normally would. “Anytime.”

\-------

 

“Did you notice we’re the only romance storyline of the movie?” Kara asked as Lena fixed her tie for her. It had become a habit for the two of them in the past couple of days, even though they had people on set whose jobs were literally to fix their clothing, Kara just always came to Lena for her ties, and Lena didn’t mind it at all. “I mean, there’s the kid with the crush, but it doesn’t go anywhere and there’s Rick who’s trying to go home to his wife while it’s still Christmas, but his story is about going home, ours is about, you know, being into each other and getting together.”

“Yeah. Which means we have to do really well, it’s all on our shoulders,” Lena told her. “Everyone knows that a Christmas movie isn’t a Christmas movie without romance.”

Kara laughed. “I think we got that part covered,” she said confidently.

Lena raised an eyebrow at her and Kara blushed.

“I just… I mean that… the script, you know,” Kara stuttered. “There’s a lot of romantic stuff written.”

Lena eyed her curiously but didn’t press. “Right.”

\-------

 

“What’s your favorite flavor of gum?” Kara asked casually when they went back to set after lunch.

Lena frowned. “That’s an odd question.”

“It’s important,” Kara insisted.

“I don’t know, never really thought of it, I like watermelon…”

“I don’t think I have watermelon, dammit, I should have gotten more. Is raspberry okay? Or cherry? I also have strawberry, orange, green apple, and peppermint, because Christmas…”

“What’s this about, Kara?”

“Our kiss, Lena,” Kara said in an impatient tone that implied Lena forgot about something they had talked about. They hadn’t.

“Oh, right, yeah. The scene,” Lena said lamely. They were shooting their first kiss scene that evening. Not their first kiss chronologically, just the first scene they were shooting in which they kissed. “You don’t have to go through all this trouble, Kara, I know you brushed your teeth after eating, which by the way you hadn’t last time.”

“Yeah, but I also slept for like an hour after lunch, I don’t want to have to submit you to bad breath or accidentally to your least favorite flavor of gum,” Kara explained, taking this a lot more seriously than Lena deemed necessary.

“I guess green peppermint is fine,” Lena conceded after a few seconds of looking into Kara’s obstinate blue eyes.

Kara gave her a smile and shoved two sticks of pale red gum in her mouth. “You want some?” she offered with her mouth full.

Lena accepted gracefully, but only put half of it in her mouth, saving the rest for later. “Thank you.”

“No, thank _you_ ,” Kara joked.

Lena shot a scene where another woman talked about Rose like she was an urban legend on the office, and Kara shot a few of her walking around the bullpen and interacting with different people supposed to be from Niamh's perspective. These were scenes set after they had already hooked up at the office’s Christmas party, but they were shooting all the office scenes first, and then everything else, including Christmas party, naked make-out scene and morning-after scene, and cute couple-y scenes for a montage at the end of the movie.

And so it was time for the scene Lena’s anxieties were waiting for. It was silly because she had done many kissing scenes in her career, and she kissed a fair amount of people in her personal life, and this was purely professional, there was no reason for her heart to speed up when Pat announced they were moving on to it.

No reason except the silly crush she developed.

There was no real basis for it; it wasn’t like Lena had feelings for Kara, not really, she didn’t know Kara well enough to have feelings. But there was a pull, just something about Kara, that had Lena hooked from the moment their eyes first met. And everything else that happened since only worked to get her more hooked. And honestly, Lena didn’t know how well she was going to react to kissing Kara again.

She hadn’t even realized she was anxious about it until Pat had announced it, too focused on doing her job, but now she had to do it.

“Hey, you ready?” Kara asked as she reached Lena.

Lena grinned at her, she could still act, no matter how affected. “I’m always ready, darling.”

Kara visibly gulped. “Right, yeah, of course.”

After they talked to Pat and he told them what he wanted for the scene, they got to their marks.

“And ACTION!” Pat yelled.

Lena smiled at Kara, a dangerously seductive smile that she knew affected people on the receiving end of it, and just as she predicted Kara seemed to falter a bit. Lena took a step closer to Kara, hooked her fingers on Kara’s vest and tugged her towards a secluded corner of the office, far from any onlookers. She balanced herself on her tiptoes, which didn’t do much to make her taller, her free hand she snaked up Kara’s neck and pulled her down so their lips could meet. Kara kissed back with enthusiasm, and when she pulled back, she was smiling at Lena.

“Have you decided how you’re going to celebrate Christmas?”

Kara’s smile got bigger. “That’s not the line,” she told Lena and laughed when Lena groaned and dropped her head on Kara’s chest.

“Cut!”

“I’m sorry,” Lena said, loud enough for the crew to hear.

“Don’t worry, I don’t mind having to do it again,” Kara whispered on Lena’s ear and Lena felt goosebumps forming on her skin at the implication and the breath ghosting on her neck. She gave herself a second to gather herself before stepping away from Kara.

“Lena, I’m not really sure about the vest,” Pat told her. “Why don’t you try something else?”

Lena nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

“And just I want more passion from you two,” he told them. “Remember, you’re sneaking around at work, it’s exciting, it’s dangerous, it’s intimate…”

“Got it,” Kara and Lena said almost together.

They go back to their marks, let makeup fix their faces and waited for Pat to call action, and again Lena threw Kara her best seductive smile, again Kara faltered but she gave Lena a smile of her own, an easy smile that along with the look in her eyes made Lena’s stomach flip. Lena took a step closer to Kara thinking ‘just go with the moment’ and grabbed Kara’s tie, tugging gently towards herself and Kara followed obediently, a dazed look on her face along with a dopey grin. Tugging the tie downward so Kara bent down a little, Lena slipped her hand on Kara’s neck, settling on her nape and bringing her closer.

And then their lips met, and this time something sparked. When Kara kissed her, it was more than enthusiasm she felt; it didn’t feel like a methodical acting move, the somewhat choreographed way actors used to kiss, it didn’t feel like the many kisses she had shared on camera with co-stars. It felt like Kara was really kissing her, as if Kara meant it, as if she had been waiting for it.

And Lena could only do the same.

She let the feelings swirling around her chest take over, let her ridiculous crush for the younger woman take the lead.

Kara’s hands found their way to Lena’s waist, bringing her forward so their bodies were flushed together, making Lena gasp, and Kara took advantage of the moment to deepen the kiss.

When Kara’s tongue brushed hers all Lena could think of was how despite the gum talk, Kara had opted for a candy cane right before the scene, and Lena wasn’t one for sugar, but on Kara’s mouth, it tasted delicious.

At some point, Kara must have remembered they were filming because the intensity of the kiss dimmed down, enough for Lena to remember she had to pull away and continue the scene.

Kara’s smile was beautiful, and she seemed out of breath, with Lena’s lipstick on her face. The sight made Lena take a moment to remember her line.

“So what are your plans for Christmas?”

“I’m still not really sure if I should be celebrating the birth of Jesus.”

Lena gave her the most innocent look she could muster, but with the way her lipstick was smeared across both their faces and she still had a freshly kissed look, it didn’t exactly have an innocent effect, and she saw Kara gulp. “Not even with me?” she asked.

Kara looked at her intensely. “I think I can make an exception.”

Lena smiled. “Good.”

“How do you plan on spending your first American holiday?”

Lena bit her lip and looked Kara up and down hungrily, tugging on the tie one more time. “However you want.”

Kara grinned. “I like the sound of that,” she said, letting Lena pull her down once more.

Their lips met once again, and Kara was still smiling, but they still managed to kiss.

“Cut!” Pat yelled, and Lena all but jolted away from Kara.

Kara dissolved into a fit of giggles, and Lena felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment.

“You okay there?” Kara asked teasingly.

“I’m good.” Lena nodded as she straightened herself.

Pat approached them. “That was great, girls,” he told them. “Lena, I loved the tie thing.”

“You wanna do it again?” Lena asked, and of course, she was not hoping to redo the kiss, she just wanted to make sure she was doing her job the best she could. Obviously.

“No. That was perfect. You two are done for the day. Go get some rest.”

“Yes sir,” Kara said jokingly, and grabbed Lena’s arm to pull her away.

Once they were far enough away from the crew, Lena cleared her throat.

“Could I have my arm back?” she asked rather teasingly.

She watched as Kara blushed a deep shade of red and let go of her arm. “Sorry, I just… I’m sorry,” Kara mumbled.

Lena laughed. “It’s fine, Kara. Just bit hard to balance myself in these things with the added weight.”

Kara was still blushing, and that sentence didn’t seem to relax her. “Sorry.”

Lena decided to take pity on the blushing girl, and she wasn’t ready to part ways with her yet, wanted to spend more time with her.

“Do you have plans for the night?”

Kara shook her head. “Do you?”

“Chinese food, wine, and cheesy Christmas movies,” Lena said. “You want in?”

Kara’s face lit up and she nodded. “That sounds awesome.”

Lena laughed at her enthusiasm. “Alright, meet me in the parking lot in twenty?”

“Yeah, sure.”

\-------

 

“Harry Potter isn’t a Christmas movie, Kara.”

“There’s a Christmas scene!” Kara argued childishly.

Lena scoffed. “That’s like saying Mean Girls is a Christmas movie because they dressed as Santa for the talent show.”

Kara’s entire face lit up and her mouth hung open for a second, and Lena was about to get worried when Kara gasped. “OH MY GOD! We should watch Mean Girls!”

“Oh my god, you dork,” Lena said back. She took a sip of her wine and sighed. “Fine, let’s watch a cheesy non-Christmas movie.”

Kara frowned at Lena. “Oh no, I’m ruining your plans for the night, aren’t I?” she asked nervously.

Lena waved it off with a hand. “Don’t worry, my plans for the night were eating outside of my diet, drinking too much and watching something on Netflix,” she told Kara. “And we’re doing just that. You’re not ruining anything, in fact, you’re actually helping by making me company. It’s more socially acceptable to drink when you’re not alone.”

“Oh,” Kara exclaimed. “Well, then great. So, Mean Girls?”

Lena sighed. “Fine,” she conceded, and she didn’t have time to be grumpy because Kara shot her a disarmingly bright smile.

“Yay!” Kara squeaked as she grabbed for the remote, which Lena reluctantly gave to her. “It’s closer to Passover than Christmas anyways,” Kara said as she shoved a pot sticker in her mouth.

“Whatever you say,” Lena laughed.

Kara Danvers watching a movie was an experience unlike any other Lena had. The woman was smiling through the whole thing, entranced with childlike joy that practically exuded from her, laughing that full-body laugh that made warmth stir inside Lena’s chest; Lena had never seen someone enjoy a movie so openly, so cheerfully, so… Kara. There was no other explanation to it, it was just so Kara, and Lena allowed the sounds of Kara’s joy lull her into a comfortable sleepy trance.

Lena hadn’t realized how tired she was until then, until she set the remains of her food down and tried to pay attention to the movie, while her focus was entirely on Kara.

She didn’t understand the effect Kara had on her, how she could be so enamored by someone she barely knew, like she was back in college crushing on the girl she shared a lit class with. But she wasn’t in college anymore, she was a grown-up woman, she shouldn’t be that affected by a pair of blue eyes and a pretty smile; she shouldn’t fall so easily.

Lena almost felt pathetic, but she craved the warmth Kara made her feel, the butterflies in her stomach, the flutter of her heart, the electric shockwaves buzzing down her spine every time they touched, intentionally or not, the brightness that was uniquely Kara’s. Kara was like the sun, and being around her felt like being engulfed by a warm bright light, a joy Lena lacked in her life, and the more she got of it the more she wanted.

Before Lena knew it, the movie was over. She had dozed off to Kara’s voice, and she was now being awakened by it.

Her knees hurt from being tucked under her all this time, her back, arm, and neck were stiff from the way she had propped her elbow up the back of the couch with her head on her hand, as she watched Kara watch the movie, but the smile Kara gave her made Lena forget all about the discomfort in her body. It didn’t matter, she was being bathed in the warm affection Kara apparently so easily gave, that she missed most of her life, and the stiffness in her muscles were worth it just for that.

“I should get out of your hair,” Kara told her. “You’re clearly tired, I would hate to impose any longer.”

Lena stifled a yawn behind her hand. “It’s fine, I invited you, Kara,” she assured. “I must have underestimated how much walking in heels all day can wear you out,” she half-joked, and Kara giggled. And just like that, Lena was awake, her chest light, her heart fluttering, and she wanted to live in that moment forever; or at least for the rest of the night. But Kara was standing up.

“It’s really late,” Kara insisted. “I’ll let you rest.”

Lena tried to hide the disappointment she felt; lucky for her, she lied about her feelings for a living.

“Thanks for inviting me, that was really nice,” Kara said as Lena walked her to the door.

“The movie you already liked, or the free food?” Lena asked jokingly.

“The company.”

Lena felt her cheeks tingling, but she didn’t let herself give in to the blush, instead she pushed it. “I doubt I was good company, I slept through half of it.”

Kara shrugged. “I enjoyed it either way.”

The smile formed on her face before she could stop it. “Me too,” Lena confessed in a whisper.

“See you tomorrow?” Kara asked, and it almost seemed like she was hopeful, but it was just how Kara was about life, Lena told herself.

Lena shook her head. “I’ve got tomorrow free. I got the entire weekend off, actually.  I’m going in on Wednesday for the party.”

“Oh,” Kara exclaimed deflated, she sounded as disappointed as Lena felt, and Lena ruled it out as her own projection. “Well, I’ll see you on Wednesday, then.”

“Yeah.”

“Goodnight, Lena,” Kara half-whispered, and the way she said Lena’s name felt too intimate, full of an affection Lena couldn’t comprehend, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it, because next thing she knew, Kara’s lips were pressing to her cheek and all thoughts that weren’t of the feeling of soft lips on her skin were gone.

Sure she had spent the best part of three days making out with Kara last year, and they had shared what was probably the best kiss of Lena’s life earlier that evening, but those were all scripted contacts. This innocent kiss on her cheek was a deliberate act, unscripted, that Kara had chosen to do by her own volition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically it's still Christmas so Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and happy (end of the) holidays for everyone.  
> I also updated that which I'm calling 'the baby Liam au' last night, so check that out if you want, it's just a tons of fluff.
> 
> Love you all and see you next year ❤️


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